Independents

2010 Nebraska Football Signing Day Coverage

<p>Welcome to Signing Day, the ultimate guilty pleasure of the college football season. If this wasn't the last breaking news event (or first depending on how you want to look at it) of the season until spring practice starts the whole thing might seem a little misguided but it is so it isn't. Make sense?</p>
<p>Here's how things will work today. I've got a couple of computers, ESPNU, the <a href="http://twitter.com/bigrednetwork">BRN Twitter account</a> and enough coffee to drown the city of Seattle. As the commits roll in, I'll be updating this post throughout the day. Feel free to jump in with thoughts, concerns, dismay and joy in the comments section below.</p>
<p>First up, the list.</p> <p>Here's who Nebraska is expecting to sign today:</p>
<p>Walker Ashburn - DE, River Ridge, LA<br>
Kenny Bell - ATH, Boulder, CO<br>
Jake Cotton - OL/DL, Lincoln, NE<br>
Lavonte David - LB, Fort Scott CC<br>
Quincy Enunwa - WR, Moreno Valley, CA<br>
Ciante Evans - CB, Arlington, TX<br>
Tyler Evans - ATH, Waverly, NE<br>
Chase Harper - TE, Navaro JC<br>
Braylon Heard - RB, Youngstown, OH<br>
Harvey Jackson - S, Missouri City, TX<br>
Joshua Mitchell - CB, Corona, CA<br>
Mike Moudy - OT, Castle Rock, CA<br>
Tobi Okuyemi - DE, Plymouth, MN<br>
Andrew Rodriguez - OT, Aurora, NE<br>
Donovan Vestal - DE, Arlington, TX<br>
<em>Updated</em><br>
Corey Cooper - S, Maywood, IL<br>
Brion Carnes - QB, Bradenton, FL</p>
<p>Three members of this class-- OT Jamarcus Hardrick, DT Jay Guy and DE Chase Rome--have already enrolled at NU. The two everyone is waiting on, safety Corey Cooper and defensive end Owamagbe Odighizu, are scheduled to announce their decisions at 9 am and 1:30 pm CST respectively.</p>
<p>To start the day, Nebraska's class ranks <a href="http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Year=2010&amp;Page=2&amp;PosType=0&amp;Sort=0">30th in the country</a> according to Rivals (<a href="http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/TeamRank.asp?sort=0&amp;year=2010&amp;postype=0&amp;Conf=3">6th in the Big 12</a>), <a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&amp;p=9&amp;c=14&amp;yr=2010">35th</a> according to Scout (<a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&amp;p=9&amp;c=14&amp;view=2&amp;yr=2010">7th B12</a>), and outside of ESPN's <a href="http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2010&amp;classmonth=1&amp;action=login&amp;appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncf%2frecruiting%2fclassrankings%3fclassyear%3d2010%26classmonth%3d1">Top 25</a>.<br>
<strong><br>
7:22 am</strong> - First update of the day. According to <a href="http://twitter.com/Sean_Callahan/status/8586847056">Sean Callahan of Rivals</a>, there are some rumors floating that Nebraska might still be in the mix for Brion Carnes. I'm skeptical but we'll find out soon enough. Carnes is set to announce at 8 am.</p>
<p>Also, here's a list <a href="http://www.huskerextra.com/articles/2010/02/02/football/doc4b68d1347cae7321787676.txt">via the LJS</a> of the expected walk-ons. (HT: Tom)</p>
<p><strong>7:42 am</strong> - SI.com is <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/highschool/02/02/cooper-nebraska/index.html?eref=sihp">reporting</a> that safety Corey Cooper is set to join the Huskers:</p>
<blockquote>"I just found that I really like it there," said Cooper. "The team, the school, the coaches, everything about it I liked. Nowhere else could beat Nebraska."</blockquote>
<p>Cooper is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals and listed Illinois and Notre Dame as fellow finalists.</p>
<p><strong>8:17 am</strong> - So far, two letters of intent are in: Andrew Rodriguez and Tyler Evans. Not surprising that the Nebraska boys are the first ones in.</p>
<p><strong>8:24 am</strong> - Rivals.com is <a href="http://www.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Year=2010&amp;School=50">listing Brion Carnes</a> as having signed his LOI with Nebraska. More to come as details emerge.</p>
<p><strong>8:28 am</strong> - Numerous sources now reporting that Brion Carnes has signed with Nebraska. It'll be interesting to hear what he has to say after the whole WKU brouhaha earlier this week. Regardless, depth at QB is key.</p>
<p>So far, the following players have signed: Carnes, Cotton, Evans, Jackson, Moudy, Okuyemi, and Rodriguez. Throw in the three already enrolled and we're halfway home.</p>
<p><strong>8:36 am</strong> - Scout is listing Ciante Evans as having signed, giving Nebraska eight LOIs on the day.</p>
<p><strong>8:50 am</strong> - Two more for the list: WR Kenny Bell and Youngstown's own Braylon Heard, RB. Given the depth problems Nebraska faced at running back this year, I have a feeling Heard might be one of the biggest signings in this class.</p>
<p><strong>8:58 am</strong> - Chase Harper's LOI brings today's haul to 11.</p>
<p><strong>9:02 am</strong> - Make it 12. Defensive end Donovan Vestal has signed.</p>
<p><strong>9:09 am</strong> - According to Scout, Corey Cooper has signed his LOI. That's a big get for Nebraska. Barring any late defections, and regardless of what Owa decides, today is shaping up as a win for the Husker staff.</p>
<p><strong>9:15 am</strong> - My favorite quote of the day so far, courtesy of Owa Odighizuwa: "I'm not going to do the whole hat trick thing you see a lot of guys do. I'm just going to wear a nice shirt, probably Polo." Nebraska, UCLA and Oregon State have to wait, but Ralph Lauren has already won.</p>
<p><strong>9:19 am</strong> - This is a big one. Lavonte David was just on Omaha's 1620AM to talk about signing with Nebraska. This was the one potential defection I was worried about given his late flirtations with USF, but he's in. As JUCO and the lone LB in the class, he could be an immediate contributor.</p>
<p><strong>9:29 am</strong> - At this point we're just waiting for the California guys--Enunwa and Mitchell--and DE Walker Ashburn who's slated to sign at 1pm.</p>
<p><strong>9:36 am</strong> - Looking for immediate impact guys? Of the class I'd say Jemarcus Hardrick, Lavonte David and maybe Braylon Heard have a real chance to contribute right away. Corey Cooper might get a long look based on talent and the openings at safety, but that's asking a lot of a true freshman who won't be on campus until August.</p>
<p><strong>10:01 am</strong> - Here's one more long shot immediate impact guy: walk-on Dillon Schrodt. Schrodt is a 6'3" receiver out of Lincoln North Star with a 35" vertical leap and a 4.48 40. He had track offers from Nebraska, Kansas State, Iowa State and Notre Dame but turned them down to walk-on at Nebraska. Love the measureables with this kid and like even more how much he wanted to play football at NU.</p>
<p><strong>10:22 am</strong> - A quick Google Map of Nebraska's commitments:</p>
<p><br><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=106989176228442612280.00047ce66e6b25ac36f9c&amp;ll=37.286147,-99.094448&amp;spn=15.509266,36.887626&amp;source=embed" style="color: #0000FF; text-align: left;">2010 Nebraska Commits</a> in a larger map</small></p>
<p><strong>10:32 am</strong> - <a href="http://www.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Year=2010&amp;School=50">Rivals</a> is listing the Nebraska class as complete to this point. Enunwa, Mitchell and Ashburn have faxed their LOIs, bringing the class to 21 commits.</p>
<p>Now we wait for Owa who, at this point, would be icing on the cake. Very highly touted icing. Lot of rumors floating around regarding his choice but nothing substantive enough to run with so we'll wait until 1:30pm.</p>
<p><strong>10:47 am</strong> - With 21 commitments, the Nebraska class is moving up the national class rankings. The Huskers are ranked 26th by Scout (up from 35th to start the day) and 22nd by Rivals (up from 30th). They still trail Missouri for the top spot in the North in both rankings. Owa could change that.</p>
<p><strong>1:37 pm</strong> - Owa Odighizuwa picks UCLA. Nebraska lost their signing day no-hitter in the ninth, but with Cooper and Carnes I think they still finished with a complete game shutout. All in all, no defections plus two signing day gets equals a win for Nebraska.</p>
<p>That should cement Nebraska's class ranking barring any major shakeups in the Big 12. They're going to end up with a Top 25 class and narrowly trailing Missouri in the North rankings. In a way, the Owa announcement and what it might have meant for the class ranking mirrors the Huskers 2009 season: close but not quite there. Still, it's impossible not to feel the momentum building at Nebraska.</p>
<p><strong>1:55 pm</strong> - In addition to the 21 scholarship signees at Nebraska, the Huskers also <a href="http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&amp;ATCLID=204879091&amp;DB_OEM_ID=100">announced 16 players</a> who will walk-on at Nebraska. Three of the announced walk-ons are from outside the state:<br>
</p><ul>
<li>Jason Dann - A kicker/punter from Richardson, TX who was "receiving interest from numerous Division I programs." You'll recall that Alex Henery started as a walk-on.</li>
<br>
<li>Keegan Hughes - A receiver from Roswell, GA who caught 25 balls last year for 750 yards, a whopping 30 ypc average. I suspect he won't do that at Nebraska, but he did choose the Huskers over a scholarship offer from Air Force.</li>
<br>
<li>Mark Pelini - A 6'1", 285 lb offensive lineman from Youngstown, OH. Oh yeah, he's Bo and Carl's nephew.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>More Recruiting Coverage:</strong><br>
<a href="http://huskerextra.com/articles/2010/02/03/football/doc4b68bcfe50ca2909774327.txt">Lincoln Journal Star</a> | <a href="http://www.omaha.com/article/20100203/BIGRED/302039971/-1/bigred">Omaha World Herald</a> | <a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&amp;p=9&amp;c=8&amp;toinid=665&amp;yr=2010">Scout</a> | <a href="http://www.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Year=2010&amp;School=50">Rivals</a> | <a href="http://huskerextra.com/articles/2010/02/03/football/doc4b68d1347cae7321787676.txt">Walk-Ons</a></p><div class="feedflare">
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Welcome to Signing Day, the ultimate guilty pleasure of the college football season. If this wasn't the last breaking news event (or first depending on how you want to look at it) of the season until spring practice starts the whole thing might seem a little misguided but it is so it isn't. Make sense?

Here's how things will work today. I've got a couple of computers, ESPNU, the BRN Twitter account and enough coffee to drown the city of Seattle. As the commits roll in, I'll be updating this post throughout the day. Feel free to jump in with thoughts, concerns, dismay and joy in the comments section below.

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